From a Tony Fort Lauderdale Neighborhood to a Tiny Cell in Pennsylvania: Fumo Convicted

Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Fumo, the subject of a 22-week criminal trial in Philadelphia, was convicted yesterday on 137 fraud and conspiracy charges. A jury found Fumo guilty of stealing some $4 million, a sum that may have helped him pay for the $2.5 million Fort Lauderdale home pictured above, which as you can see, sits in the city's most exclusive zip code.

Fumo not only had a huge house in South Florida, he also had a sugar daddy -- the late Stephen C. Marcus, who spent winters at his own home in Boca Raton and with whom Fumo invested in a private plane.

Despite the case, it seems Fumo has lots of sympathizers. Even the media seemed to take a charitable view of the disgraced pol's predicament. From the Philly Daily News article:

In court, Fumo, who had a heart attack last year, remained still as
the verdict was read. His ashen face seemed to grow paler by the minute.

Afterward, he turned and hugged his youngest daughter, Allie, a
college freshman whose eyes were rimmed with red. His concern seemed to
be for her, not himself.

U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter set bail at $2 million,
rejecting a prosecution request that Fumo be immediately locked up as
flight risk. The judge permitted Fumo to post the money by signing a
form giving the government the right, should he run, to seize his
27-room mansion in Spring Garden, his farm outside Harrisburg, and his
homes at the Jersey Shore and in Florida.

Personally, I can't conjure sympathy for someone who, at any point in his life, had four huge homes. By comparison, that jail cell's gonna feel like a sardine can, eh?